what is sp 500

The S&P 500, or Standard & Poors 500 Index, is a market-capitalization-weighted index of 500 leading publicly traded companies in the U.S. . It is one of the most widely used indexes for the U.S. stock market and is a bellwether for stocks. The index includes stocks across all 11 sectors of the economy, as defined by the GICS classification system. The weightings rely on each firm’s market capitalization – the total value of its outstanding shares. A larger firm carries a larger weighting in the index, though Standard & Poor’s makes some adjustments based on how much of the stock is actually traded (“floated”) in the market (versus how much is held off the market) . The S&P 500 is maintained by S&P Dow Jones Indices, a joint venture majority-owned by S&P Global, and its components are selected by a committee. The index is widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities and covers approximately 80% of available market capitalization.